This invention relates to the art of telephone systems, and more particularly to a new and improved method and system for sensing, detecting and identifying a telephone PBX.
In a basic PBX (private branch exchange) configuration, the PBX is connected between the central office switch and the individual telephone stations. In a computer/telephony integration a computer is connected to one of the station lines to emulate the telephone terminals with the end result of controlling most of the features offered by the PBX through the computer interface. For the computer/telephony interface to configure itself to meet the characteristics of the PBX, it must be able to determine what type of PBX it is connected to. Heretofore, this has been accomplished by manual configurations or different hardware modules for each type of PBX. These approaches undesirably require human intervention or inventory of individual modules.
It would, therefore, be highly desirable to provide a system and method for automatically sensing, detecting and identifying a telephone PBX which requires no manual intervention or inventory of individual hardware modules. As a result, in computer/telephony integration, modifications needed between PBX integration platforms advantageously would involve software and firmware rather than hardware. In addition, this allows a simplified user interface to be provided which minimizes the amount of prior knowledge required from the consumer and reduces the time from setup to full operation by having the system configure itself to the user's needs.
The present invention provides, in a telephone system including a PBX connected between a central/public office switch and one or more terminals where a computer telephony interface is connected to the PBX, means operatively associated with the computer telephony interface and responsive to an operational characteristic of the PBX for sensing, detecting and identifying the type of PBX connected to the computer telephony interface. The operational characteristic utilized is the DC power levels for various PBXs. The present invention automatically senses, detects and identifies the type of PBX which is connected to the computer telephony interface. Automation of this procedure simplifies the user interface by providing the computer telephony interface with information which it can then use to configure itself and function in the required mode without having any type of user input.
The foregoing and additional advantages and characterizing features of the present invention will become clearly apparent upon a reading of the ensuing detailed description together with the included drawing wherein: